I have
been spouting off in the world press about this group of amazing women
in Marin County, USA, whose picture in a newspaper stopped the world,
as I knew it, and shifted me into the type of determination and concentration
that I have only ever experienced whilst giving birth.

I kept looking at you gals' pic in the paper on the table in front of
me and my tears kept rolling and rolling. I was angry, I was sad, I
was frustrated and the tears kept rolling.

I was angry that I could see through the US and Ozzie propaganda that
was set up to strike fear in the hearts of the population so that our
governments could convince their respective communities to accept their
plans to murder innocents in Iraq.

I am not a political person. Until now I felt unable to have an opinion
that I would publicly talk about, for fear of easily being shut down
by someone who knew their politics and policies. However I have realised
you don't need to be Einstein to work out what's going on here and that
from the point of view of a Mother and a female, THIS IS WRONG. And
knowing that, it was my duty to say so, from a Mother's point of view.

My journalist friend Kate wrote a very moving and honest letter of invitation
to the women of the shire, which we spammed through e-mail, asking the
recipient to forward it on to her female friends.

I did interviews all over Australia saying what we were about to do.
This helped the women to participate. They needed a vehicle that would
give them the opportunity to have a very loud and strong voice.

My filmmaker friends and peace activist friends helped me to keep my
promise of protecting the women's modesty, by finding a secure site
where we could stop prying photographers - with enormous lenses. An
ultralight pilot offered to take our video cameraman up to get overhead
shots for TV news footage. A paparazzi friend and his wife offered to
take the photos and to have them up on the Web for world press to access.
My dear friend Michele, who's an art director, brought another art director
along. To mark out the site, so that the women would be in frame for
the shot, we placed the cameraman 20 meters up a tree. The men of our
community came together respecting the women and protecting the space
and the boundary line to the property from unwanted guests.

Others women were marshals to form the letters clearly and one woman
stood up to keep the women focused. An “aummmmm”, which
changed shape and pitch, which massaged us, which connected us. That
sound lasted for ten minutes whilst the last few stragglers came running
up the hill disrobing as they ran to join their sisters.

We got our shots in minutes and as fast as the women came, they left.
I finished two interviews and went back to the site and it was empty!
Had this happened? No chit-chat, no bogged cars, no lost knickers. GONE.
750 women disappeared in minutes. The pictures were used by media worldwide,
as was the TV footage we shot.

To the women of Marin County: Please know that your courage has and
is continuing to inspire women the world over. Thank you for waking
ME up. God bless us all, the world over, and save us from the desperate
men in our governments.